Method of reworking rails



- Patented 12, 1936 PATENT- OFFICE 2,040,494 METBOD F REWOBKING RAILSCarl 10mm Miller, Elyria, one, asignor to Steel .12 Tubes, Inc.,Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application July 19:4, Serlal No.134,193

This invention relates to the art of metal working, and moreparticularly toa new and improved method of making articles from scraprailway rails; Heretofore, several methods have been proposed -i'orconverting scrap railway rails into' billets, bars, and other Patent No.220,240 illustrates one such proposal, according to which the scrap railis slitted lengthl0 wise at the junction of the head and web, the headpart being subsequently rolled into a bar or billet or used withoutrolling, and the base'and web part being passed through several rollpasses to shape it into a bar or billet of substantially l5 rectangularshape. The Browne Patent No. 294,757 illustrates another proposed methodin which the scrap rail is slit lengthwise and approximately in themiddle of the web, after which the flanges'of the basepart are flattenedand 20 bent into arc shape, while the head part is flattened and wideneduntil it can be passed thru the roll passes which are usedto flatten andbend the flanges of the base part. The Connors Patent No. 1,883,338illustrates a third proposed 25 method according-to which scrap railsare slitted lengthwise in two places, i. e., at, the junctions of theweb with the head and withthe base. The web part is used in the slittedform as a plate or billet, or may be, rolled into other shapes, 30 whilethe head and base parts are passed-through scan irate roll passesspecifically designed for each D In none of the prior'proposed methods,with which I am familiar, has it ever been suggested means by which suchdifliculties might be avoided are not obvious, which doubtless explainsthe fact 50 that such a processhas not heretofore been proposed. I havedevised a process, however, by

.which such a procedure may be carried out and by which the resultingarticles willbe substantially free fromdefects such'as cold laps, deepas cracks, and'the like.

similar articles. The Hewitt.

that scrap T-ra'ils of the general character as Briefly stated, thepresent invention includes the steps of slitting a scrap rail lengthwisealong the web, that is, intermedia its sides orits junctions with thehead and ase sections, then passing the thus slitted sections insuccession 5 thru the same roll passes in which the metal of eachsection is worked into a generally rectangular cross-section withoutcold laps, deep cracks or the like, and used as such, or rolled intoarticles of the desired shapes, such as rounds, squares,octagons,hexagons and the like.

In the drawing accompanying and forming a part of this specification, I

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a three-high set of rolls by which thepresent invention may be practiced; I

Figures 2, 3 and dare cross-sectional views of the base part of a railrolledin accordance with the present invention; and,

Figures 5, 6 and! are cross-sectional views of the head part of a railrolled in accordance with the present invention.

In Fig. 1 parts of a three-high rollin mill. are shown. The bottom,middle and top rolls, designated respectively by numbers I 2 and 3 aredriven (by means not shown) .and are provided with suitable passes forthe rail to'be rolled. The

bottom one is driven in one direction and the top one in the oppositedirection, so that the articles may be passed back and forth, betweenthe bottom and middle rollin one direction and between the top andmiddle roll in the reverse direction, as is well understood by thoseskilled in the art. I

Rolls l,2and 3 are cut awaytoiorm twosubstantially similar passes, eachconsisting of the parts [a and lb, separated by slitting edges 5. Therolls are also provided with the passes 6, I, 8, 9, II, II and [2. It isnot necessary thatall these passes be present in one set of rolls, formobviously a set of rolls might be provided for each pass and a two-highmill could then be usedv instead of a three-high mill. Moreover, forcer- 'tain articles, only a few of thepasses shown inFig. 1 may berequired, while for other article s a different combination of passesmay be used. The passes shown in' the rollsof Fig; 1 may, however,beadvantageously incorporated in a single set of rolls, and thus'avariety of products may be obtained with but one set -of rolls,therebyeconomizing in plant equipment and space required.

In practicing I invention by the use of rolls, such as shown in Fig. 1,the scrap rail,,-cut into pieces 01' the suitable length if ,desired, isilr'st' thickn'es is made passed between rolls thru passes la and lb. Inthese the web is slit or severed lengthwise intermediate its sides,leaving a more or, less accu'rately predetermined amount of the webattached to the base part of the rail. 'I'he'flange of the base part isnarrowed somewhat in width and thickened, by this pass, so as preferablyto after the slitting operation, the height of the rail has not beenmaterially decreased. After slittinmthe head and base partsrlare passedin succession thru pass 5 in the opposite direction. The flange portionof the base part is thereby further decreased in width coincident withsome decrease in height of the web portion. Pass 6 decreases the headpart or the rail in thickness and increases it in width, and alsodecreases the weight of the web portion. Then, both parts of the slittedrail may be p s d in succession hru Pass I, wherein the metal-isgathered into a cross sectional shape narrower-in width and of increasedthickness. Then the'rail parts may be passed in succesionthru pass 9,wherein the substantially uniform, the

height of the web is decreased, and the radii of the surfaces thereofand the adjacent metal are increased and a "groove is formed on theside; opposite to the web, and then in thrueither of passes it or II,and,if desired, thrupass I! or a similar pass -of.diil'erent Insteadofgrolling I, I, ll or ll and/or", as justdescribed, theytherailpartsthrupasses may alternatively be passed in succession frompass thru vr r 01' I, and I2. Inpass the metal rolled by pass is notgathered as in pass 1 but on the contrary is changed into a section ofsubstantially uniform thickness with a web part 01' decreased heightand. increased radii of curvatura and with a groove on the other side ppsite to the web.

Inl igs.

2, 3 and 4,.A indicates the cross section of the base part of a rail asit comes from the web part. Inpass 9 pass i; 13 indicates the crosssection of the same part as it comes from pass I; and C indicates thecross section of the same part as it comes from pass 9.

In Figs. 5, 6 and 7, D indicates'the cross section of the head part ofthe rail as it comes from pass 6; E indicates the cross section as thehead part comes from pass 1; and F indicates the cross,section of thehead part as it comes from It will be observed that when passes 6, 'land I are used, pass 1 decreases the width and in- 1 creases thethickness of the flanges, and the section is increased in thicknessalong the axis of the width of the sec- 1 tion coming from pass I hasbeen increased somecrease in hcight of theweb with the radii ofcurvature at the junction with the what coincident with a thereof, adean increase in flangesofthesectiomandarecessorgroovehas beenformed inthe and of a shape somewhatsimilar to that ofthe web. Gold laps and nearthe iunc substantially free from cold section opposite to the to thewebin passes [or Q and with or without the gathering action of pass I.In this manner the radii of curvature atthe base of the web have beengreatly increased and all tendencies to formation of cold laps, orcracks which are more than skin deep, have beenavoided. Subsequentflattening of such a section intosubstantialiy rectangular form may thenreadily be accomplished.

Having thus described my invention so that those skilled in the art maybe able to practice the same, what I desire to secure by letters- Patentis defined in what is claimed.

What I claim is: i

l. The method of making compact articles om steel railway rails" whichincludes the steps of slitting a heated Trail lengthwise of the webbetween head and base and simultaneously narrowing and thickening theflange portion of the base section without substantially decreasing theheight of'the web portion attached thereto, passing the thus formed headand base sections in succession thru the same roll passes, and rollingthe said sections into compact articles of substantially thesamecross-sectional shape and size and substantially free from defects suchas rowing and thickening the flange portion of the a base sectionwithout substantially decreasing the height of the web portion attachedthereto, passing the thus formed head and base sections in successionthru a plurality of roll passesto form substantially similar generallycompact sections laps and the like, the rollpasses serving to decreasethe area of the slitted sections and make the height of the web partssubstantially equal, followed by formation of a groove opposite the webportion on and coincident decrease in height of the web and increase inthe radii of curvature between the surfaces thereof and the'adiacentmetal.

3. The method of making compact articles from steel railway rails whichincludes the steps of slitting a heated T rail lengthwise of the webbetween head and base and simultaneously narrowing and thickening theflange portion of the base section without substantially decreasing theheight of the web portion attached thereto, passa ing the thus formedhead and base sections in succession thru a plurality of roll passes toform substantially similar generally rectangular compact sectionssubstantially free from cold laps and thelike, the-servingtodecreasethea-reaoi' and to make the height of the web portionssubstantially equal, followed by groove oppodte the web portion2,040,19; a v '13 V fing and thickening the flange portion of the basesection without substantially decreasing the substantially free fromcold laps and the like,

the passes serving to decrease the area of the slitted sections and tomake the height of the web parts simmuauy edual, then gathering themetal into a cross-sectional shape which is nartower and thicker,followed by formation of a groove opposite the web portion and withcoincident'decrease in height of the web and increase in the radii ofcurvature of the surfaces thereof and the adjacent metal.

cam. JOHNSTON imam.

